Additional communication modes such as video, instant messaging, application or data sharing have proliferated in recent years with the availability of diverse types of communication networks and devices capable of taking advantage of various features of these networks. Some more recent systems (e.g. unified communication systems) take advantage of capabilities of modern networks and computing devices bringing together different communication networks and providing until now unavailable functionality such as combining various modes of communication, user defined routing mechanisms, and so on. In such systems, a network of servers manages end devices capable of handling a wide range of functionality and communication while facilitating communications between the more modern unified communication network devices and other networks (e.g. PSTN, cellular, etc.).
In a system that supports multiple forms of communication, it is important for administrators to be aware of the quality of experience delivered to the users by the system. This enables the administrators to adjust the configuration of the system as needed when the quality deteriorates. Quality of experience may degrade generally due to problems in the network(s) or problems in the computing devices through which the media travels. While comprehensive reports on various aspects of the system based on metrics collected over time may provide a useful tool to administrators for addressing long term network issues and upgrade/correction decisions, some problems may require immediate attention. For such problems, administrators typically need to know a nature of the problem and location of the problem (i.e. which machines or software the problem is associated with).